The modern world of art is full of diversity and creativity. The goals pursued by artists creating their work are completely different. One thing is clear: everyone wants to bring something new. Someone with the help of art wants to show their feelings, someone wants to give the world a drop of goodness. Cindy Sherman has become one of those artists who breaks stereotypes. She makes fun of modern foundations and rules, and for this she is loved.
Birth
Cindy Sherman was born in 1954. March 19, the baby was born in the city of Glen Ridge in the state of New Jersey (a suburb of New York). Immediately after her birth, the family moved to Huntington, Long Island. There are five children in her family. Parents had nothing to do with art. Father is an engineer, and mother is a teacher.
Childhood
Cindy Sherman's biography begins in a large family. The girl in her became the fifth and last child, although at that time two children were already independent and chose to live separately. Father often showed his strict temper, and then the mother had to protect them. One of the older brothers Cindy Sherman Frank, aged 27, committed suicide due to failures in his personal life. The guy could not find his place in the sun, and this led to a deep depression.
From an early age, the girl loved to change images. She dressed up in different clothes, which remained from her grandmother, changed her hair and dyed. She was not interested in the images of princesses and queens, like the rest of her peers; she dressed up in old ladies, witches and monsters. In addition, Cindy was able to draw, which subsequently left an imprint on her life.
School life
The Cindy Sherman family did not have sufficient funds to educate children, so in 1972 the girl decided to go to University College in Buffalo. There she took up painting, but after a while she realized that she was not interested in copying other people's works, she wanted to do something special. Cindy realized that the camera could copy the image much better than she did, so she gradually switched to the photo. This gave her much more room for inspiration and new ideas. In 1977, she graduated from university and received a diploma.
Creation
Immediately after graduation, the girl begins to translate her ideas into reality and begins work on a new project. It is called Untitled Film Stills, which means "Images from films without a name." A series of her black and white pictures was released in 1980 and consisted of 69 photographs. Cindy herself acted as a model, dresser, make-up artist and photographer all rolled into one. In 1980, the girl stopped working on this project, since at that time it seemed to her that the staff had exhausted themselves.
She began to be invited to various exhibitions, but Sherman was depressed that it practically did not bring any income. The remaining artists received exactly the same reviews in the press as she did, but their earnings were much higher. In the same year, Cindy decides to work in color and with a large format. Her second project caused a mixed reaction. The pictures showed vomit and other “nasty” things, but people bought her work.
In 1990, a new project of the artist appeared under the name History Portraits / Old Masters ("Historical Portraits / Old Masters"). During the creation of a series of photographs, the artist was in Rome, but she basically did not go to museums or churches. She created her work, relying solely on reproductions from books. And it finally brought her income. Sherman herself believes that this happened because the audience no longer wanted to look at “contemporary art”, they wanted something more soulful and warm.
Her next work was called Sex Pictures ("Sexual Pictures"). To create it, the artist specially ordered medical male and female mannequins. Since the genitals were not too beautiful, the girl had to correct everything. In this she was helped by painting lessons. She pasted pubic hair and painted mannequins in different colors. Sherman has been attracted to disgusting things since childhood, and in this work her main task was to find out why she was so attracted.
She continues to disclose this issue in her new work, Civil War ("Civil War"). The whole project is riddled with cruelty, violence and pieces of human rotting meat. This made the artist understand that to some extent she was attracted to the theme of death.
In the 1990s, she tries herself as a director. Her film called Office Killer ("Office Killer") did not bring popularity, but it can’t be called bad, because this work includes several genres at once: comedy, horror and thriller. Everything is in the spirit of Cindy Sherman.
A little later, the woman decides to return to the roots and releases a series of pictures of aging actresses. The new project is sent to her “Images from films without a name”, where young and pretty girls have already lost their former vitality, they fade, but still retain some charm and intrigue. After which the artist tries herself in the image of a clown. The pictures turned out to be rather sad and aggressive than funny. In 2000, the artist released a new project, which showed all the pomp of Hollywood. Too much makeup and silicone.
The artist herself admits that she was always very modest, which is why sometimes she wanted to be a different person. For all of her costumes, wigs and body parts, a woman monitors very carefully. They are neatly arranged in several cabinets.
Features of creativity
The first photos of Cindy Sherman are more reminiscent of shots from life accidentally captured on camera. She never chooses any particular person whom she would like to show in her works; she chooses a certain type that interests her. All the characters she portrayed are fictional. The artist takes pictures of herself and only in rare cases asks someone to help her. She does not burden herself with finding models for her projects. Cindy tried to take pictures of friends and relatives, and even once hired herself an assistant, but she could not work with any of them, because she herself did not know what she really wanted to see in her photographs. The girl simply could not explain what she needed. It was all fun for them, but for Cindy it was work.
Most often, she portrays women of different walks of life: a business businesswoman, prostitute, housewife, simpleton, library worker, or a passionate independent woman. Her work does not leave anyone indifferent. They are full of drama, scandalous and even provocative mood, black humor. Cindy shows modern people hiding their feelings deep inside, while outside - fake smiles and grimaces.
Feminism in the works
In her works, photographer Cindy Sherman showed female images: a girl who hitchhikes, a sobbing drunk woman, an office worker, a child in the city, an abandoned mistress. Certainly, critics saw feminist motifs in the photographs. Her designs feature fake. Thus, the woman tried to show all the pomp of female roles and sometimes unnatural behavior in the society of the fairer sex. Unlike other photographers, Cindy always claimed that the camera was lying. Her creative outlook on the world and surroundings is similar to a sermon in contemporary art. So she feels what is happening around her.
After she received a new order from Artforum magazine, her feminist looks excited everyone around. They looked like a parody of pictures from pornographic magazines, only the heroines did not look exciting at all, on the contrary, they seemed sad and tired. Thus, modern American artist Cindy Sherman wanted to show how girls feel under a relentless masculine look. How hard it is to live in a society where the main role still belongs to men.
Computer processing
When creating his works, Sherman has to resort to computer processing. Since most often she is shot in the studio, with the help of computer programs, she draws the background. The artist resorts to this method to give the image more falsity and ostentatiousness.
Exhibitions
Immediately after the publication of her first serious work - “Shots from films without a name” - success comes to the girl. Now the crowd repeats one name: Cindy Sherman is an artist. She took part in several international exhibitions, one of which was the Venice Biennale. This exhibition is very honorable for artists. After 5 years, her work was exhibited at the famous Whitney Museum of American Art.
In 2012, the New York Museum of Modern Art hosted a major exhibition of the artist's works, which was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of her career.
Unlike many other artists, Cindy does not betray old friends, and her photographs are still represented by New York Metro Pictures, which once exhibited her first works in her walls.
Personal life
In 1984, Cindy Sherman married French director Michel Oder. From this marriage, the artist has no children, although she raised Michel's daughter. Then they divorced. From 2007 to 2011, Cindy had a relationship with the talented artist David Byrne.
Career
In the 1980s, the works of the young artist gained worldwide popularity, and in 1995, the New York Museum of Modern Art acquired the entire series of “Still Images from Films” for $ 1,000,000, and after a while, one of her photographs was sold for $ 190,000. In 1997, the famous singer Madonna sponsored her exhibition "Images from films without a name."
Of course, we can say that Cindy Sherman became the icon that sets the style in art. The rating of her work is very high. In the list of "most influential people in the world of art" she is in 7th place. In her career, she has achieved tremendous heights. Not every artist can boast that his works - both old and new - are snapped up. At the moment, Cindy Sherman is the most famous and influential artist in the world. None of her photographs sell for less than $ 50,000. Nevertheless, admirers of Cindy Sherman’s creativity often want to get a complete set of her works.
Auction
The annual income of Cindy Sherman from the sale of her works at auctions from 2000 to 2006 ranges from $ 1.5 million to $ 2.8. In 2007, it rose to $ 8.9 million. Sherman's photo Untitled # 96 (1981) was auctioned off for $ 3,890,500.
This work was on the list of the most expensive photos. It depicts a cute girl lying on the floor, holding a piece of newspaper with an announcement of dating. Sherman laid deep meaning in her work. An innocent girl, so lonely and so seductive, and this piece of paper with an announcement of acquaintance, suggests that the not yet fully strengthened girlish essence wants to break free and go on an adventure.